Even in Poland, Workers’ Wages Flow to North Korea
- 6 years ago
Even in Poland, Workers’ Wages Flow to North Korea
Soon afterward, Ms. Kowalska said, she stopped hiring North Korean workers “because it became such a sensitive issue.” She added
that she was now retired and no longer managed North Korean workers.
“This is slave labor,” said Agnes Jongerius, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, who
has urged European authorities to force Poland to stop admitting North Korean workers
Ms. Kowalska, now 67, said her company, Armex, assumed responsibility for the workers,
and then established a relationship with the North Korean partners who had brought them to Poland.
“Our girls lived as if they were in prison,” said Kim Tae-san, a North Korean defector who worked in
the Czech Republic from 2000 to 2002 supervising 200 young North Korean women in a shoe factory.
According to research by Mr. Breuker and his colleagues, Armex received its workers from the Rungrado General Trading Corporation, a North Korean supplier of overseas workers sanctioned by the United States in 2016
and accused of funding the department that oversees the nuclear weapons program.
Soon afterward, Ms. Kowalska said, she stopped hiring North Korean workers “because it became such a sensitive issue.” She added
that she was now retired and no longer managed North Korean workers.
“This is slave labor,” said Agnes Jongerius, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, who
has urged European authorities to force Poland to stop admitting North Korean workers
Ms. Kowalska, now 67, said her company, Armex, assumed responsibility for the workers,
and then established a relationship with the North Korean partners who had brought them to Poland.
“Our girls lived as if they were in prison,” said Kim Tae-san, a North Korean defector who worked in
the Czech Republic from 2000 to 2002 supervising 200 young North Korean women in a shoe factory.
According to research by Mr. Breuker and his colleagues, Armex received its workers from the Rungrado General Trading Corporation, a North Korean supplier of overseas workers sanctioned by the United States in 2016
and accused of funding the department that oversees the nuclear weapons program.